When was the last day you had fun?

I went to a beach side, a place called Rompin about 1 hour from where I live, with my friends and lecturer on a typical weekend. The place is famous for the fish shown in the picture. I do not know the name of the fish.

Ohh! The weather was just perfect and I couldn't have been happier. When I look at the sea, I am intrigued by the infinite horizon yet somehow it presents a hope that there may be, just may be something waiting far beyond yonder.

Coming from a landlocked country, I really enjoy strolling around beaches and feeling the rush of waves under my feet.

The last time I had fun was, I do not remember. I think I have been too occupied with "matters of consequences" that I have just forgotten how to have fun. When was the last time you had fun; when you had been really really happy?

What kind of foot-mark are you going to leave behind?

My happy weekend ended here!

Gratitude 14: I am grateful that I am surrounded with peace and tranquility.

Cheers for another successful post!

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MANANG, The Land of Spiritual Enlightenment

My uncle sent me some awesome pictures and video  from his recent trip to Manang. For those who haven't read my second post "Roots", Manang is my hometown. It's a beautiful place filled with vibrant nature, culturally rich and  friendly hosts.

Although, I have been there only once but I absolutely loved the experience. We hiked for 3 days and finally reached the headquarter of Manang also known as Chame. Its a very cold and windy place and one can easily get sun burnt.

I hope to go there again!

Here is a short video!

Gratitude 13: I am grateful that I belong to a place filled with nature, culture and history.

Cheers!

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Karma's moment with Taxi Driver

Each wo/man is an island. I read that in some books by whom I don't remember.

Millions of people walk on this earth. 7 billion people and counting. We all have our own story, don't we? They make us, break us, free us, torture us, enlighten us, refresh us...

Since we are all different, these stories that form us are different too. I feel that when you combine each of these stories they give birth to the so called  life.

It's always been fascinating for me to know the story of each person that I come across. Getting to know that story means stepping out of the comfort zone and actually starting a conversation. If you have read my personal history, you would easily identify me with 'INTROVERT', although I think I have changed quite substantially.

I would like to share one of my story today. Nothing big but definitely something meaningful.

I visited a very close friend of mine a few days ago in Malacca, a state in Malaysia. It's a 4 hour bus ride from where I live. The place where I live is  a place completely remote and basically lifeless during weekends and holidays.

We wanted to go and watch a movie  'The last witch hunter'. We don't own a car neither do we drive. We were waiting at the bus stop for few minutes when a taxi pulled over and gesturing with his finger says 4. Well, taxis in Malacca are a bit very expensive and we are always weary of riding one cause it burns a big hole in our pocket. I told the taxi driver that we wanted to go to Dataran Pahlawan. He said that would cost Rm 6 each. If we took the bus it would cost Rm 4 each. So I told him that it's ok but my friend quickly interjected and said that was a good bargain considering the fact that we had to change the bus twice.

When I got on the taxi, the taxi driver quickly with his heavy breath told me that any people with a good common sense would jump at the opportunity. Considering that I didn't, I think it was meant to piss me off/ mock me. So I told him that I didn't have any common sense. At this, he went quite hot and uneasy. I felt like this was how one progresses into an argument in the grown up world. 

I told him that I was new in the area. He said that it doesn't matter whether I was new or not and I should have known that it was a good logical decisions to accept his proposal.

At this moment I felt like this man is either engulfed with arrogance or  is something more than just a taxi driver as he exhibited a great sense of self-pride. The latter proved to be true.

He went on about his journey into different countries and even went as far as to show his several used passports. I was like why is he going around carrying his passports. His showing us the passport was to prove that whatever he was talking wasn't a bluff.

He was a specialist, I do not exactly know what kind but he was a speicalist in oil and gas industry and is currently employed under Petronas, the only Malaysian company in the Fortune 500 companies.  What I know is that people working in the oil fields make a lot of money so there is no need for one with a full time job in it to be driving a taxi.

He said driving taxi was just a gig he does during his weekends. Well, I know that the decline in oil prices has severely hit many oil and gas companies so could it be ...? Let's not judge, shall we? That's what I told myself.

Here I had this great opportunity to learn from this person in an industry that I am considering to be a part of after graduation. So I just couldn't let it slip. The rest of the time just flew as we exchanged back and forth. He gave me quick responses to all my inquiries.

I infact felt that he slowed his speed a bit.

Rough start but a smooth finish. When we reached the mall, he looked at me as if to really look at who this girl is that he has been talking for the past few minutes. He made some very grown up rumble about being safe and taking care of our belongings.

Although, this encounter may not seem much but it made me smile the whole day. I was glad to have come across him and I hope he did too. Hehe! (' u ')

I feel that I have definitely been able to overcome my shyness of having an actual conversations with someone I do not know.
I feel that I have so many people to meet and so many things to learn.

I hope he realizes that I was able to gain/receive these from our encounter.

Gratitude 12: I am grateful that I came across him and wish him health, fortune and happiness. Gracias' till we meet again.

Cheers for a very late and successful post!

Karma

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Love, Karma

Its been quite sometime since I last posted cause I had been busy with my exams and I am currently participating in a competition which is presently occupying much of my time. The grand prize has lots of cash involved so do pray for me. I had almost completely forgotten about my blog but one of my juniors sent me a fb text requesting me to update. Now well, I thought that pretty much my blog posts were invisible to the world but I am glad that there is at least someone who enjoys it. Please keep on supporting me. <3 Khin <3.

Although I have completely shut off myself in my own tiny world, I managed to finish a book. The book is called  Love, Rosie by Ceclia Ahern. I loved her book P.S I love you and have been following her with some of her other books. I found Love, Rosie quite uninteresting unlike P.S I love you but the book had definitely lot of substance to be taken in parcel especially when a person like myself is in a threshold of entering into a new phase. 

The protagonist of the novel is Rosie Dunne. The book is about how her life evolves from her one mistake when she was eighteen (she becomes pregnant) and how it unfolds one event after another that leaves her broke, divorced, single, lonely and severely depressed. However, with each blow, she strives further and  moves on. When she finally reaches her fifty's she is able to be together with the love of her life, her best friend since age six, Dr. Alex Stewart and is able to achieve her dream of owning and managing her own hotel.

It helped me to put my life in a perspective of how it should be. Although it will never be the way I plan it but I at least have a vision of how I want to be when I reach a particular phase of my life. I have epiphanies once in a while. When I have them, I stand where I am and realize how I always wanted and wished to be standing at the same position years before. Well, it has certainly made me believe that when you long for something and work for it, you will always exactly find having those epiphanies. So dream big, Karma.

Well, you must be thinking the name of this blog posts is similar to that of the book. There is a reason behind it. The book is unique; it doesn't follow the traditional writing style. The book is a compilation of all the emails, letter and electronic messages that are relayed between the protagonist and all the people in her life.

So I thought why not write a message from my present self to my future self.

From Present Karma

To Future Karma

Date: 10/10/2015

I hope you continue to aim moon and stars and never stop, never give up. I hope you travel and meet lots of people. I hope you take every meetings, every incidents, every experience as a learning take away. I hope you savor every moment of life, live the present moment. I hope you give, spread love and hopefully love will be filled in abundance into your life. I hope you live a healthy life and in all this never forget your parents and your family.

I will always love you no matter what cause you are beautiful.

Love,
Karma

I think writing to yourself is always a great way to inspire yourself. Its like a sort of promise to yourself and a self-check mechanism so that you dun linger away from your true self.
Try writing to yourself. One day, when you read it, may be something will stirr inside you.
 

Me with children reading stories together.

Gratitude 11: I am grateful that I had wonderful memories with the children doing what I love, Reading Stories. YAY!

Cheers for another successful post!

Karma

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Karma - What goes around, comes around!

Be good, do good, see good, hear good and good will follow you. Define good!

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10**** ways to make world a better place!

I am facing quite a few problems lately and it's just too overwhelming for me. Someone like me hardly moans when I have problems. I feel like I am a bit emotionally down because of some people I thought were friends but instead turned out to be liars and backstabbers.

I was trying to find a way for myself to cheer up. When I am under emotional stress, I try to look for inspiring videos in YouTube, for instance, videos about kindness, humanity, courage, helping. Although, it may not help you solve your problems but I always find myself feeling better than I felt before.

I also try not to victimize myself. In that way, I won't play the blame game.

I can't advise people to cheer up and talk about all the goodness and happiness in the world when they are going through a rough time. I acknowledge that it takes time to heal and if you feel like crying or you need some time then just do it. However, it should be for only a limited period of time. Take those resting time to reflect and to find peace within yourself. It might take 30 minutes or 4 days or 1 month. Well, it works for me.

Although my topic is about making world a better place, I am not going to share with you any thing about it because you can find tons of those information if you just google it. But I want you to realize that the number 10****  doesn't always have to be 10. If you google about "Making world a better place" , the results will show "7 ways to make the world a better place or 10 ways...". There are not just 7 or 10 ways but millions of ways to help people and make this world a better place. 

Why do I need to make the world a better place? What do I get out of it? Why should I bother about people when I have problems myself? Why? Why? Why?

I believe in the interdependence concept by Dalai Lama. In his talks, he emphasizes on this a lot of times. He says we are all interconnected to each other therefore, any harm or good you do to others will always influence you.

I came across a book called "Five people you meet in heaven " by Mitch Albom and it has been one of my favorite books ever since. The book is centered around a character, Eddie who dies in an accident and finds himself in heaven. All his life time in earth, he had the why? how? when? what? events that had left him sober and unhappy. The heaven reveals his life one fold at a time through the people he met and did not meet in his lifetime.

After reading the book, I realized that we are all in fact deeply related. One of the people Eddie meets is a Blue Man. The man has his own share of sorrows and griefs. One day while driving his car, young Eddie bounces to the road to retrieve his ball. The blue man gets into an accident while trying to swerve his car to prevent hitting Eddie and as a result dies. Eddie never knew that a man had died while trying to save his life. 

Probably, we may have influenced someone's life, positively or negatively  but we are not aware of/about it.

I imagine a magical string being attached to each other and that a magical force determines who we meet in our life, how we come across friends, partners, boss, employees, mentors and how we evolve, live our life and finally rest in peace. My favorite quote from the book :-

" Each affects the other and the other affects the next and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one" - Five people you meet in heaven

 Another favorite quote of mine.

Gratitude 10: I feel grateful for all the meaningful friends, family, mentors and well wishers I have in my life.

Cheers! Have a good day!

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Happiness is when...

...when unwashed spongebob loves my nail colour.

...when I see the word "Nepali" in a foreign land.

 

...when I dare myself to do something I am scared of.

...when I get first prize.

 

 ...when I get to study my favorite courses.

...when  my table is filled with lots of color.

 

...when I get to eat delicious food. 

 

...when I go through my scrapbooks. 

 

...when I fulfill my goals. 

 

...when I read. (It's Murakami's book, 1Q84)

 

...when I buy a book, cover it with a plastic protection sheet and write my name on the first page of the book. 

 

...when I eat pickled tea called "laphet" (it's a traditional snack dish from Myanmar)

What is happiness for you?? :)

Gratitude 8: I am grateful that I have a lot of things to be happy about.

Cheers!

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Photoblog :- Selamat AidilFitri!

The best thing about open houses are the cute little takeaways!

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Graduate Scholarship for Nepali Students 2016

Since I am about to finish my undergraduate very soon, I am looking for some scholarship opportunity. I came across some and I would like to share three that I have come across.

First is the Chevenig Scholarship funded by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (UK) and partner organizations. This scholarship covers your tuition fees, accommodation, books and some few other expenses. It also covers a monthly allowance. However, the scholarship is for a duration of only one year. So, basically, if your desired graduate programme is  for more than 1 year, you will have to pay for the extra period of study from your own pocket. This is where it got me to a lot of thinking.

If you are selected as one of the recipients, you can choose to study in any partner universities. This scholarship is not meant for only Nepali nationality. Students from other nationalities can also apply. Please check the list of eligible countries from their official website. 

One of the main requirement for this scholarship is that you are required to have some years of working experience if you wish to apply for the scholarship.

This is just a snapshot. You can get extra information by following the link http://www.chevening.org/nepal

Second is the Mingma Norbu Sherpa Memorial Scholarship 2016-2017 offered by Lincoln University, New Zealand (and supported by WWF, Greater Himalayas Foundation USA and Outward Bound New Zealand). The scholarship is for students who wish to pursue their Masters  in the fields of natural resource management, tourism and the environment. The deadline  for applications is 31 August, 2015.

If you wish to know more, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Third is from University of Oregon who are offering  full tuition scholarship for students from Nepal as a part of its global engagement to help rebuild Nepal  after the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

The scholarship is for both graduate or undergraduate student, in a field of study that the university believes will contribute to the reconstruction needs of Nepal.

Gratitude no. 7: I am grateful that I was able to get a scholarship for my studies.

Cheers!

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Net+working: How for students!

Well, I guess many of those, mostly in their final year undergraduates or fresh graduates like me must have read or been advised how networking can help you secure a place in the company that you really long for. 

When someone advised me about it, I was like, I know what networking is and how important it is but how do we do it? I am not really that outgoing and extroverted so for people like me it really sounds like a huge challenge like the Amazing Race that I used to watch in AxN. 

We can find a lot of do's and dont's about networking in the internet but the problem is they are rarely written in perspective of students like me. This post may not be relevant for those who are already skillful in this area but many people who identify themselves as introverts and ambiverts have hard time when it comes to socializing.

The same person who advised first to me about networking shared with me some pretty confidence boosting message. She said that most of us who are afraid to go out and approach people have this inferiority complex, that is we feel that the person who we are approaching to are not normal humans but super humans with extraordinary capabilities and power. So she then said how about viewing the other person as someone like you and me, experienced the same things and gone through the same journey.

This has definitely helped me a lot and I am a lot more confident now when I approach people.

I have been trying to join a lot of events outside campus since you can't be expecting people to come to you and ask about you and be like "I really like you and I want you to work for me". We have to create opportunity so that we can meet a lot of people that can open the right doors for us.

 I recently went for a career fair in Kuala Lumpur. I talked to a lot of staffs who were representing their companies and I did pass around a lot of CV's. Although, I didn't hear from any of the companies but I think it was a good investment because it helped me not to be afraid to ask, to talk to people. I feel like I am growing. That's yahoo for me. I love myself for that matter.

Well, we are students and we are always on a tight budget so spending on things such as networking events, books, conferences may not sound fun or right. I like to take it as a long term investment and therefore, like any long-term investments, the returns may not be quick but they are always high that other investments.

So, don't be stingy to spend what's good for you or even if you don't have any money to spend , borrow from your parents, friends or well-wishers but make sure to pay them back.

Gratitude no. 6: I am grateful that I have a smartphone and a laptop and most of all 24 hr connection to wifi.

Cheers!

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How to not be hard on yourself?

Life is very competitive. If you want to move one step ahead, you will definitely experience 1000 blows before you do. It's not that I have achieved something so significant that I can talk about it. I haven't even tried to do that, probably I never will if I continue with this attitude because like so many of you I am scared, scared of failure. And I have always been hard on myself because of this very matter.

Well, I am currently volunteering as a mentor for a reading programme where we teach primary school children how to read in English. I use various teaching methods so that I can not only help them in just reading but also speaking as in day-day conversation and writing. I noticed many of my kids were afraid of making mistakes and to fail and therefore, would often get stuck.They are embarrassed when I point out mistakes. So, I encourage them that it's ok to make mistake.

I think when you don't want to make mistake, don't want to fail, you become hard on your self and instead commit a major crime which is you prevent yourself from learning. We are what we are and nobody is perfect and that shouldn't stop us from truly achieving our true self.

We won't find many models who would encourage us to take that leap and say it's ok if we mistakes or fail. So that leaves it upto us to regularly remind as well as encourage ourselves to take that leap without being afraid and self-talk that it will all be ok and it will be a good learning experience. If you don't do it for your self then who will?

So dear readers, please do not be afraid to make mistakes and fail and most of all do not be hard on yourself.

Credit:- Anna Vital, https://twitter.com/annavitals/status/577204087013298176

Gratitude no. 5: I am grateful that I have a place that I can call home.

Cheers!

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Internship, Job, Career, Masters....

I am busy looking for a direction after I graduate. Sometimes when I am highly motivated, future looks like a clear mapped out Robinson Crusoe's treasure map. Other times, I am confused and see all doors closed.

This all makes me question about our chase for that perfect job, that perfect career. I wish there were no expectation of me and I was free to experiment. That would be one wild adventure. I truly believe in leaving behind a meaningful footprint to mark that I wasn't a burden for the period I resided on the earth.

I have been really thinking how best to increase the number of views in my blog. The first question is how best can I deliver of something valuable to people so that they would be attracted to reading whatever I post. What have I got to present?

I love reading books but I think there are thousands of people doing on that. I like to think I am crazy and different so perhaps something that reflects me. I hope to one day discover that perfect breakthrough, another craze for perfection. I guess it can't be helped.

I think much of what I write is about myself , about my world and much of it is about my worries and my confusion. I am sure many people are going through the same. Instead of having them read about themselves, I would like to write about beautiful things, happy things, inspiring things, things that make them feel beautiful, away from all those happiness subtracting feelings.

Well, actually at least I cleared the first part of the puzzle.

Gratitude 4: I am thankful that my families are safe from the disastrous earthquake in Nepal.

Cheers!

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Dream Catcher

Namaste!

I had made a resolution to write at least 1 gratitude for 365 days without any break but I couldn't follow it up. I think I had set quite an unworkable goal. Some days I am tired because of traveling and I do not have the energy and motivation to upload a new post whereas some days I do not seem to be able to find any inspiration. Well when I do find one, I know that I want to write a new post about it.

Well, I think I will change my plan for now. Yes, I will be sharing with you about what I had initially planned but it will not be daily so that it will provide me more flexibility.

I am an avid news reader. Today while I was doing my checks for any new and interesting news I found an interesting article on China.org.cn. It was about a woman named Hu Fenglian who lost her lower part of the legs when she was 6 months old. Her story inspired me because inspite of the many challenges a normal disable people face, she shows the determination and courage to live her life fully and rather than dwelling on the past, looks forward to the future. If you want to know more about the story coverage you can click on this link:- http://www.china.org.cn/china/2015-02/25/content_34883041.htm

 

After reading her story, I asked myself what my dream is. Where do I see myself? I am currently in my final year. And this is a crucial question for me. If you have your own story, I would love to learn about your dream and your chase to dream.

I had such a hard time completing this post because I am so confused. When I am confused, I like to procrastinate a lot.

People say "You just need to follow your heart" but how is one to recognize what the heart wants to follow.

I think Steve Jobs has the best answer to my confusion.

The meaning of dream has become so ambiguous. Dreams by the professional self help gurus are called goals - short term, medium term and long term. For others, dreams are just dreams that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep and for few of them, dreams means a special meaning that adds value to their existence.

I feel like I need to rely on Mr. Steve Jobs on this one. Until I find myself my dream, I will be running, chasing after it. Hence, I become a dream catcher.

Gratitude 3:
I am grateful that I am healthy, that I can run, jump, walk, talk, be able to do whatever I want to do.

Cheers!

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Roots

Namaste!

I came to Malaysia when I was 18 and now I am 22. I have only tasted a bit of life and I know there are loads of surprises waiting for me - bad, good; all uncertain. The future does indeed seem uncertain but what does seem certain is the power to shape it.

What about past? Past is unerasable; the only power we have now is to contemplate it. If our life was a Facebook timeline, our newsfeed would begin right from the time we were out into this world. Yet the timeline begins before we are born. To exactly start from where is nearly impossible so this is probably why we begin our existence and identity from the place we are born.

I was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. I never had the opportunity to travel so when I came to Malaysia and subsequently traveled to Singapore and Thailand, I realized how big the world really is. Traveling, observing and meeting people from different countries has truly been an enriching experience and at the same time has led me to question about my roots

For me tracing our roots is important because roots are the very reason why trees exist and without it there would not be things such as tress so had it not been for my ancestors, there would not be a person that you know today called Karma Dolma Gurung.

Much more than the place where I was born and raised, I have a closer affinity to the community that I belong to. I belong to a mountainous ethnic tribe, Managis, in Nepal which is influenced by Tibetan Buddhism.

Manang

I was given an assignment on one of the course I was taking in my first year of undergraduate. It was about my cultural identity. Below is an excerpt from my assignment:-

"My name is Karma Dolma Gurung. I was given this name by our spiritual leader who guides and teaches all the Managis to act in the right path. Our religion which teaches us compassion and kindness has played an important role in shaping out culture, beliefs and values. Our everyday life is guides by following the main teachings for betterment of not only our fellow human beings but also for nature and its creation. Karma means a cyclical cause and effect process where the present good or bad doings influences the future or our next life. Managis believe in Karma so they perform good doings in their present life to earn good merit.

I believe that my family and my community have had a profound effect in shaping my self-identity. If not for them, I would have never been the present Karma. I have guided myself to follow what I have been taught by my parents as well as principles that I have developed, through various experiences as I grew up. After I left home for abroad, I have been exposed to there various arrays of culturally diverse people that made me think about the global village I am part of. My community has taught me to live in peace and harmony with others. This is probably the reason why I have been able to adapt to AiU's environment. I hope to someday write about the stories of my land and people as a gift to my community for the beautiful lessons it has taught me." ( 5th November, 2012)

Kid me at Manang

Gratitude 2: I am grateful that I come from such a culturally diverse background. I am grateful that I have supportive family.

Sweet Dreams!

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Namaste

नमस्ते! (Namaste!) It's a form of hand-gesture by pressing your two hands together commonly used to greet another person. NAMASTE!

What does it mean anyway? Namaste is a word that is just more than a form of greeting. I got to know this when I was reading one of my favorite book of all time "Aspire" by Kevin Hall; you should try reading this book.

The word can be traced back to Hindu mythology. The Gods were frustrated with the humans who were misusing their godly power so they decided to hide this power but had no idea where. They wanted to hide it in a place where humans wouldn't be able to find/ reach. Hence, they thought about hiding it in the highest mountain but then humans would one day be able to climb the highest mountain. They came up with another alternative, to hide it in the deepest ocean but then humans would one day be able to dive in the deepest sea.

Finally, after much contemplation they finally found a perfect place. They hid it inside humans because they knew that humans were selfish, greedy and self-centric so they would never able to discover it.

So saying Namaste means " I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honor the place in you of light, love, truth, peace and wisdom" (from Aspire by Kevin Hall).

I love telling this story to other people because it carries a meaning that we fail to express our gratitude everyday in our life i.e to respect ourselves for our uniqueness and god-given gifts.

This is the reason why I started this blog in the hope that many people including me will find an answer and be able to find light at the end of the tunnel.

If you feel like we are sailing on the same boat, join me with my journey. Remember "Every journey begins with a single step."

For 365 days, I will be sharing you about the uniqueness and god-given gifts that I have received. So here is my first gratitude to start off this blog.

Gratitude 1: I am grateful that I was able to go to school and receive proper education. I am grateful that I can read and write. With this gift that I have received, I want to be able to touch people's lives and teach to pass this gift to children so that they can also feel blessed.

My study table

Sweet Dreams!

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